Electric battery.



R. C. BENNER & H. F. FRENCH.

ELECTRIC BATTERY.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1a. 1916.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

IN V EN TOR.

HI. FRENCH fl/a/m r,

ATTORNEY HA3. EENNBH b BY RAYMOND C. BENNER AND HARRY F. FRENCH, OFFREMONT, OHIO, ASSIGNORS, BY IVIESN'E ASSIGNMENTS, TONATIONAL CARBONCOMPANY, INQ, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC BATTERY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

Application filed July 13, 1916. Serial No. 109,050.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RAYMOND C. BENNER and HARRY F, FRENCH, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Fremont, in the county of Sandusky andState of Ohio, have iniented a certain new and useful Improvement inElectric Batteries, of which the following is a full, cle'ar, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to electric batteries, and while the invention isnot necessarily limited thereto, we find it of especial value inconnection with copper oxid cells having an alkaline electrolyte. Inthis type of battery the positive electrode usually consists of zinc andthe negative electrode of powdered copper oxid inclosed in a perforatedcontainer. In some cases the negative electrode consists of a block ofmolded copper oXid, but the electro-chemical action is. however, thesame.

The complete battery consists of a jar having an alkaline electrolyte,such as so dium hydroxid, with an appropriate cover from which the twoelectrodes are suspended. It has been found that sulfur has a remarkableproperty of materially in,- creasing the voltage of the copper oxidcell, and in addition, causing: an increase in service life. A patentapplication covering this discovery was filed November 30, 1915, by R.IV. Erwin. Serial X0. 64.3%..

Ive have made an improvement in the invention disclosed in suchapplication, which will now be described in detail. In the perforatedcontainer type of alkaline cell, some difficulty has been experiencd inshipping the negative element on account of the oxid sifting out throughthe perforations. We have found that an admirable way to prevent this isby mixing powdered sulfur with the copper oXid and heating it up to thesoftening or melting point of the sulfur, the heating being preferablycarried on with the mixture inside the perforated container to be usedin the battery. I/Vhen cool, the sulfur binds the oXid particlestogether so that they cannot sift out through the perforations. By usingthis special means of incorporating the sulfur in the negative element,we obtain the high voltage and long life incident to the use of sulfur,as described in the previously mcntional application.

While there is no certain temperature to which the sulfur must beheated, the temperature must not be much above the melting point ofsulfur, for We have found that best results are obtained When the sulfuris heated just sufiiciently to bind the copper oxid particles together,that is, to a temperature in the neighborhood of 125 C.

Various amounts of sulfur may be used in conjunction with copper oxid.With a constant volume of depolarizer, a beneficial electro-chemicaleffect extends over the range from 0.25% or less sulfur to 40% or more.

At about .5%, the binding effect of the sulfur just begins to be ofvalue and the service is particularly high. Above 5%, the binding valueincrease steadily with the amount of sulfur, while the electro-chemicaladvantages remain about the same or de crease somewhat until they beginto rise toward a fairly definite maximum which occurs in the vicinity of25% sulfur. The statements concerning the electro-chemical advantagesare based upon calculations of ampere hour and watt hour service to acutoff voltage of 0.5 volt.

Our improvement is not'restricted to the perforated container type ofcell, as oxid blocks can be made With sulfur binder, and inclosed in ametal frame or attached in any way to a conducting support. o prefer,however, the perforated container type, as it is easier to ship and nodifficulty is encountered by fragments of oxid dropping off during use.

Having described our invention, What We claim is 1. In electricbatteries, a negative element consisting of copper oxid bound togetherby sulfur.

2. In electric batteries, a negative element consisting of a perforatedreceptacle congaining copper oXid bound together by sulur.

3. In electric batteries, an alkaline electrolyte and a negative elementconsisting of copper oxid bound together by sulfur.

In testimony whereof, We hereunto ah'ix our signatures.

RAYMOND C. BENNER. HARRY F. FRENCH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five me each, by addressing;the Commissioner or Eatents Weahingtcm, D. Q.

